Thread: Opinions wanted from those with AGX and Road Magnet setup

Yes. Exactly. I'm not sure how much rebound changes when you move through the adjustments (something tells me it doesn't change much but I could be wrong) but compression changes a whole lot. You can tell what philosophy they used when making them. When you adjust them it's to change the roll characteristics of the car with a big penalty in ride comfort. It does, however give people a cheap strut that they can make stiff if they want to. =/
The other thing about the AGX dampers that makes them popular for us is that it's one of the few that are strong enough in rebound to handle the RM or Hyperco springs. Most everything else is weak sauce.

If that is the way they are designed (and I would expect nothing less from Koni) then that's exactly why they feel great even with a stiff spring. The adjustment on the Koni then is to compensate for different spring stiffness. Once you find the right rebound stiffness for the spring you're using, there would be no benefit in changing their adjustment after that.

Correct sir, you should be in terrific shape with that set-up.

I believe you guys had this backwards, depending on which Koni you are speaking of.

AGX's are only single adjustable, hence only one dial to turn. Only the rebound is adjustable. My memory is a little fuzzy, it might be bound. I know for sure it is only one or the other.

For the Koni's the 8611 are double adjustable, therefore bound and rebound are adjustable separately i.e., two dials per shock. There are single adjustable Koni's and I would assume they are bound or rebound adjustable, depending on what the AGX is(most single adjustable shock are the same). I'm leaning towards rebound though.

I have road magnets with stock struts (dont judge me), but the difference in handling even with stock struts is night and day. The ride isn't that bad, you just gotta watch out for big bumps they WILL own you. I have a b14 tho so take this with a grain of salt.

Are you sure? I know they are "single" adjustable, but that term is tossed around meaning two different things these days. I recall that the one knob on the KYBs adjusts both compression and rebound. Certainly it adjusts compression! How much it adjusts rebound might be up for debate.

If it's only one then it's compression for sure.

It would be great if everyone used "double adjustable" and "single adjustable" to mean the same thing, but that's not the case. You are right about the Konis. Both compression and rebound can be adjusted separately.




For those trying to follow a damper discussion let me give you synonyms to keep track of.

Damper getting shorter
Compression
Bound (see rebound)
Bump


Damper getting longer
Rebound
Extension
Droop
Jounce (used incorrectly I believe)

Guess what. I found a shock dyno of KYB AGX dampers (for civics) with settings 1-4 represented.



I'm very surprised but it supports your explanation of things Nismo_34. That makes the struts a bit better in my mind. I'm still wondering how that small of a difference in compression could make such a big difference in the ride quality. Maybe the scale on the dyno is hiding how big of a difference it really is. However, you're right. When you turn the knob on them, you're overwhelmingly changing the rebound characteristics, and only minor changes to the compression takes place.

KYB AGX's FTMFW!

Go look at a Bilstein/Koni/Moton dyno and then come back and say that.

All Koni's are adjustable , but ordinary Koni Special (red) inserts for B13/B14 are single adjustable off the car and only rebound (which is better than bound+rebound simultaneously)! Koni sport (yellow) are a bit stiffer on rebound by default even on the softest setting and their bound rate is higher compared to Red's (from shock dynos I've seen) and that is why they feel stiffer. B13/B14 inserts are may be not 8611 or if there is a 8611 insert that can be used in a B13/B14 I will be very glad to know . I know there are some people with S13 with 8611 koni's.
AGXs are a bit stiff on the bound stroke than Red Koni's , so they don't allow the suspension to compress well when hitting a bump. So when you turn up the knob you make this problem bigger. To damp the spring movements you need rebound , not bound . Less bound -> better compression of suspension -> more comfort.
This is my point of view so please correct me if I am wrong.

bbekov, I can't attest to the Koni stuff because I've never done that research but you've got the general idea when it comes to bound/rebound as you put it.